Eric Patrick Major, former publisher of Hodder & Stoughton and vice president of religious publishing at Doubleday, died Jan. 14 at his home in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England. He was 68.

Major began his career as a publicist, then overseeing Hodder & Stoughton's launch of its commercial fiction list, which included authors John le Carré and Stephen King.

A committed Roman Catholic, Major became managing director of Hodder & Stoughton's religious publishing program from 1993-1996 while also serving as publisher for Hodder.

After his retirement from Hodder in 1996, Major was recruited to head Doubleday's religious publishing division. During his six-year tenure at Doubleday, Major strengthened the program's traditional emphasis in Catholicism while broadening it to include evangelical Christian books through its WaterBrook Press imprint.

In 2002, following cancer treatment, Major retired from Doubleday and returned to England with his wife, Patsy.

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